fourths of an hour after adjournment to dis-
cuss agriculture with those who had not yet

-8-

gotten enough. The sacred fire is ablaze and

they can't squelch it. Even by following the

plow for weeks and "cussing niggers" for a

change, still it wont drown. Talk about no

interest in Agriculture I Why the tiller of

the soil will lay aside his work and drive

miles for the opportunity to learn something

new.

To enter the University the student has

been compelled to pass a course of studies in

the high school that have no bearing on Agri-

culture but has had those studies that fit him

for a clerkship or other kind of office in

-9-

some commercial establishment and bh taking a

few months additional training in a commercial

course he is put in line for advancement in

some commercial establishment or in a railway

service. This is in itself all right so far

as the individual is concerned, but radically

wrong from the standpoint of the State or so-

ciety as a whole. The State though or high

schools and higher education is gradually lead-

ing her people away from Agriculture,- the

source of supply for maintenance of her whole

population.

The young countryman or country lady who

-10-

has just graduated from a city high school in

Florida is less fit to take up the complicated

questions surrounding a farm home than he or

she was previous to the training in the high

school. He or she must therefore take up- a

line of work for which the high school has been

more or less a preparation.

Our Agricultural educators are as a rule

brought from the farm, not because there is

any virtue in being born on a farm, but because

the early training and education of the city

boy gave him no starting point. There was

no possible chance for himjA there are thou-

-11-

sands of youngrmen and women to-day denied the

possibility of making a living by farming, the

vocation for which they are best adopted by

temperament and physical conditions. The man

who is a misfit either in agriculture or any

where else is deserving of our most sincere

sympathy. But how about ourselves, we who

are not only responsible for the manufacture

of these misfits but are actually in the bus-

inees ourselves.

I have pointed out to you that there is

no chance for the average boy from the high
'77*. T /"

school to get a start, to find a hangent,

on the road to an agricultural education and

IT,

-12-

the country boy is denied one1,because he has

not been to high school and unfitted himself

for Agriculture.

After such a course of F9"^n a %ts it

any wonder that we find no students, and only

a very few ^ t' in the school of Agri-

culture. The trouble with our University is

that the average man has to go through about

a six ye--rs course*of preparatory study before

he -is permitted to even get to the catechismal

course of agriculture, -thri. i' graciously per-

F-tted tu adorn the pages of our catalogue.

nL- T4esoes -gbt to it ..what- .wea'tner beat-

e n-s- s T E LOnl here e~ndh er'e re--

-13-

have constructed. There is a fine roof; a

handsome spire and on the pinnacle a beautiful

weather vane. Here we have hundreds of people

wanting an agricultural education,-the brick

and mortal, lyfliEg all about (and by the way

I have.met some bricks). And we stand idly

by, tacitly saying, "We have joined the plum-

bers union A.dn are not permitted to put on

anything but the water spouting."

-14-

Our course of study in Agriculture pre-

supposes that the candidate has unlimited

time to prepare for entrance. -6r couFse

of ot-ud-,is not strong enough to prepare a

youngman for professional work and too weak

to prepare a man for practical work. In the

Freshman year, three hours, mostly theoreti-

cal work; in the Sophomore year, three hours

more; in the first term of Junior year the

student is actually permitted to see the Pro-

fessor of Agriculture three times a week and

if he, the Professor, is especially handsome,

and the student has all his brass buttons

-15-

(in math., history etc.) on and his gilt

lace properly sewed, otherwise he had better

not elect to see the Professor of Agricul-

ture, but better elect to see the Professor

in whose classes he has failed to receive a

benediction in former terms. In the Senior

year the student may actually become acquain-

ted with agriculture. You will, however,

notice that every effort has been made be-

fore this glorious time to side track the can-

didate into every conceivable switch, and

only those with bullheaded determination and

intellectual brilliancy can ever attain to

,., '. """ "*- Sf "' ^

-16-

this blissful estate. Is Agriculture such

a rare gem that only the select of the elite

should be permitted to look upon it ? No!

Our course is upside downf. It is designed

for the rarest of the classes instead of eery

--ae f the masses.

There is absolutely no training termed

agriculture in the country schools. In our

high schools it is even worse, the training

is all away from agriculture, In the Univer-

sity we set up a course in agriculture that

giv i td the most exceptional 4.

cases. Here we have an edifice, a tremen-

dously fine lot of material for superstruct-

w

-17-

ure, but no foundation material proper, but

have constructed a fine roof, spire, with

.lightning rod and gilded weather vane. No

wonder at all that the structure goes to the

ground everytime the least cyclonic disturbance

is felt in the legislative atmosphere.

To sum up my preface then,- There are

hundreds of people in the State of Florida

that would make sacrifices to learn something

in Agriculture and we have, I believe three

students.

A man gets.sick; he knows he is sicks

He knows he is very ill. Everybody can see

it. No one has to remind him of it. No

-18-

one needs to tell him so. Our school of Ag-

riculture is sick; "bad" sick. Everybody

that knows us knows it is so and if our friends

even dare to ask us they always say, "I hope

he is convalescing," Oh yest we reply it is

only a case of general and prolonged derange-

ment organs.

The remedy.

1. Inaugurate a short course in Agricul-

ture,- say a six weeks course.

2. Inaugurate a longer course,- say a*

six months course.

3. Inaugurate a long course, say a two

-19-

years course.

4. Inaugurate a course of Farmers Insti-

tutes.

5. Inaugurate course of home reading.

The short course in Agriculture of about

six weeks duration should be brim full of

lively lectures on practical farm topics. The

idea should not be that of cramming into the

lecture dry threadbear facts that have been

palmed off on a suffering agricultural public

for two or three decades, but lively up-to-

date illustrated lectures right to the farmers

needs. Dont tell them what Levasier said, or

Pasteur discovered, Tell the audience what

-20-

pear blight is how the can best combat or

eradicate it. Tell them what the Texas fev-

er is and how to handle it. Tell them how to

construct a silo and how to fill it. It makes

not the slightest difference to these men

whether the disease producing organ belongs to

the Schizophyta, or the Carpophyta or the Pro-

tozoa or Metazoa. These are the flimsiest

gilt lace of value only to the professional

man. What difference does it make to the

practical ee-t brder whether oxidace, per-

oxidace or catalace or any other kind of enzy-

me or no enzyme at all is produced in the

-21-

ferrientation of silage. What the practical

man wants to know is how to produce and keep

silage.

For entrance to the short course no

questions should be asked, no fees exacted;

and no restrictions whatever. The whole

underlying idea being that to get the stu-

dent to think along regular lines and.to get

an enthusiasm for something better to come.

In the longer course the entrance should

be restricted to persons over eighteen years

old with practically no other entrance require-

Lents.

-22-

The course should be by lectures almost

entirely, over a somewhat wider range of study

but permitting only such lectures to occur as

deal directly with some valuable, practical

problem.

2 5

Theoretically, Agricultural Education

in Florida may be said to have had as its

starting point at the establishment of the

Agricultural College. It is scarcely nec-

essary for me to mention here that the pas-

sage of- the Land Grant Act of 1861 is the

basis upon wVhich was esto..blished all of our

Agricultural Colleges. This Act appropriated

a certain number of acres, I believe thirty

thousandunoccupied national lands for each

representative in congress. The Act provides

for the establishment of colleges in which

the leading features shall be, Agriculture,

itechanic Arts, and Military Science and tac-

It appears t'at in those early days the'

states were much more modest about t.he matter

of accepting Federal aid for state enter- 4

prises than now, since very few Agricultural

colleges were established until at least a

2 //

decade latter. Florida took matters rather

leisurely and made no very definite effort

until about the beginning of the eighties.

The first definite move was made by erect-

ing a ten or twelve room coquino house on

the shores of the Indian River, at Eak/Galle.

The institution was never formally opened at

that place from the fact that the building

was not completed within the tleT the

legislative act, A subsequent Legislature

put the institution up at auction again;

Lake City being the highest bidder, received

it at a kind of 0. H. sale.

In 1888 the Hatch Act was passed, cre-

ating the Experiment Station with an annual

fund of $15,000.00, Following close upon

this was passed the I.:orril Act, which now

yields each state 25,000.00 (Where separate

institutions are maintained for negroes, the

funds are divided pro rata).

The first building erected at Lake

City was Chapel Hall; twenty-two years ago.

The first faculty was a unique one from our

present point of view. If I remember cor-

rectly, it was composed of five members.

Some of these with the students ft-n=i- a-

found dormitory room in the floor of Chapel

Hall.

After securinF the faculty, a very

serious question arose that threatened the

institution with dire calamity. It was dis-

covered that somebody had to teach agricul-

ture. Somebody had to take the "job". Final-

ly the Beard of Trustees, in their infinite

wisdom, allotted the task to the professor

of Creek, 'ho was by training and practice a

civil engineer. Hence, I think that I am

quite rifht in saying that the first faculty

of the Flcrida Asricultura.Lj College was u-

nique in that she had a civil engineer as

Proffessor of Greek and A~Cricultrie.

The Hall for Mechanic Arts was no less

unique. Its main equipment consisted in

foot-power fret-saws, with which the children

sawed up cigar boxes and similar lumber into

picture frames, comb trays and a'sn s use-

ful articles for adornin.r the h+9se r---

When th.e Morril Fund became available,

the President of the College and the Presi-

dent of the Board of Trustees vied with

each other in making valuablee purchases for

the institution and in creating additional

departments. As a result, the institution

found itself in the delightful position of

having a six-thousand dollar defiBit at the

end of the year. The Board, however, were

masters of financiering. The first step was

to discharge the President. The next step

was to combine the Experiment Station with

the Agricultural College. So, by discharg-

ing five of the professors, and exercising

other rigid economics, ccnniderable reduction

was made in the deficit by the end of the

next fiscal year. The next step in the way

of financering was to discharge both President

and Director and combining the office in one

head. This likewise did away with the un-

pleasant kicking from the Director that his

money was being spent for college purposes.

The form of economics was not exactly

pleasing to the Legislature, which took a

"and in th- matterby in tn discharing the

Board of Trustees; the new Board served from

1893 to 1899. The Board being appointed by

the governor without.reference to the Legis-

Ic-.ture, the governor, Eloxam, disnl.harged the

whole bod;, T o in 1899, with

a single exception, Mr. F. E. Farris, ihd

Board continued unt$l the present Board was

appointed. Ve have therefore, had the fol-

Icwing catecfismpin the manarin.g Boards--'93,

'99 and 1905, or in twenty-two ;'ears,

Each time the whole faculty was technically

discharged. A11 of those, who like the

speaker, '.ere unable to find a job elsewhere,

were generously given their for-me& positions.

TTeny other amusingr circumstances occur with

these catec isms, amusin.rg in the retrospect

and abstract. The pendulum of prosperity for

the institutions, like that of civilization,

R.-inEsP back and forth; it is never at rest,

and may; it never ccme to a dead hale. Some-

times it seems that decades of progress are

lost, but by each return the progress is ac-

celerated and borne higher. Or poPsibly, I

had better liken it to the formation of tne

axis of a continent which is lifted a lit-

tle higher from eon to eon, though during

the interval a Pubsidence may have occurred.

THE EXPERII.NET STATIOTT

The Experiment Station, its privileges

and limitations, are so generally misunder-

stood, even by those who are called upon

to a-ninister the trust, that~ who see

but the outside manifestations are certainly..

excusable for misunderstanlinE.

Eroadly stating it, the Experiment

Station is an institution for the"Increase

of learning and the diffusion of Aricultural

Knowledge". The fund is a present from the

general government to each state and ter-

ritory. At first, no practical limitations

were thrown about the fund, but the states

were allowed their own way of spending it.

Gross, and even base misuse of the funds oc-

curred, with no sign of abatement, so that

from time to time Congress has been9obliged

to pass amendatory acts, which in the hands

of an ill-advised Secretary of Agriculture

might prove very onerous or even base. The

trouble, however, has been with the states

in failin:-. to use the funds for

purposes. Our own state has b;. no means been

fair at all times. As I indicated before,

the Station was used, fifteen years ago,

to wipe out the college debt. Or even a

more flagrant case, which occurred earlier:--

It was found that no college funds were a-

vs-.ilable for building a boiler-house for

the Mechanic Arts hall. ."Well, I'll let you

imagine the rest",

The Experlment Station income is made

up :of two funds; the Hatch fund amounting

to $15,000.00 annually. This may: be used for

general equipment, administration, and for

publications, but primarily it is intended

for investigations. Two decades ago, our

ideas as to what const~ituiied investigation

were rather crude. Even now, +he difference

b-etween\ demonstration and \ research is

rather ill-defined in the minds of men who

have served a considerable time in Experi-

ment Station work. To state it briefly and

tersely, I may say,--A demonstration shows

that certain effects follow certain causes.

Let me make some concrete illustrations.

We have shown that ar:plying acid phosphate to

pineapples is damaging; we know that avhen
a
more than certain amount of C, S. M. is fed

to milch cows the butter produced is

greasy; we know that a large amount cf or-

ganic ammonia w"ill produce rough, thick-

skinned citrus fruits. To apply acid phos-

l:hute; to feed C. S. T.,; to apply organic

ammonia, are all demonstrations. ITow to make
must
research problems out of, these, we/:oonduct

experiments which have for their object the

answering' of the question, Why does acid

phosphate injure pineapples? Why does a

large amount of C. S. M. produce lardiness

in butter? Why does organic ammonia produce

course citrus fruits? Let me cite another

illustration. For scores of years it has

been known that lime, when added to soil

righ in all plantifoods, sometimes produced

good effects, Later research taught that

other substances produced similar effects,

Finally research into the demonstrativI

phenomena revealed the fact that acid soils

were made more productive, while alkaline

or neutral soils were not affected by the

addition of lime. I think I have now made

myself i.:nderstood as to +he difference

between 'demonstration' and 'research'

A t the last session of Congress the

A dams Act was passed. This appropriated

$5,000,00 for research work. The amount is

increased by 12,000,00 annually until the

total sum under the act shall reach ,15,000.00

annually. This sum restricted to research

is at once the most magnificent gift of any

nation .:r any time that has been made to

__ scientific research in Agriculture. It is

to Agriculture what the Smithsonian 7ift is

to science. Under this fund we are not re-

quired to publish half-digested demonstration ,

nor to pad up paragraph of demonstration

into a quarterly bulletin. The man who

undertakes a project under this fund finds

ample time to work out profound truths. He

will not be heralded by glaring head-lines

in theau-a dailies or weeklies, but

like the Frest Paul Jones, he will probably

have tc lie in an unhorored and unmarked

grave for a hund-ed years, and then have

a battleship to brinr his body for inter-

ment in a conspicuous resting place,

To those who have been singed by the

"sacred fire" of research, this is an ideal

condition for 'vL--a daily bread.

It is far from tie place fb the slothful; on

the one hand his work will be constantly

under fire from those who have had superior

advantage, and on the other hand results

will be called for constantly by those

who have had no training.

To Fum up the whole matter then; begin-

. nin, at the top. The Adams fund provides ,-

for the maintenance of research, the highest

t.:p of scientific work. The Hatch fund per-

mits a small amount of demonstrative work;

so-callec co-operative experiments. The

University provides means for training

young men in the rudiments of scientific

work, and here the matter ends. The high

schools unfit the pupils for agriculture;

the.county schools fail to provide any train-

ing tZoard agriculture. Consequently, we

have a wide gap in our e'-stne of education,

extendinnr fr-om the parent who is actively

hattlimg with the world to support the

4 > to the younp man on the threshold
7---T
of the battles of life, ready to enter the

University. 0 -f r Oc p y^) *

It is our duty as educators to see that

this vacancy; this vacuumlbe filled, unless

we take that unworthy stand which makes our

actions say that "the University exists

solely to fosi, Dept. A or Dept. B". Do

mot misunderstand me to sa;; that any man

should permit his department to hold a second

...pllce in his own estimation; I have no

patience .ith the hronic grumbler, ITo patience

.'.ith the 'calamity howler'. If I am dis-

satisfied with m. lot it is my duty as a man,

both to myself and to the institution, to open

the way for better, a mcrie woithy, and a

young man with hope, ambition, and life be-

fcre him.

| A

AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IF FLORIDA,

4&L~ 4 G^^ ^ Cc-at 2- A- 2 -

I have taken this subject for my paper tonight because

it is one in which every one of us is primarially interested. Take

away the educational feature from any department, and we have left

no excuse for its maintenance. What is true of each of the several

parts, must necessarily be true of the whole; i.e., of our University.

Naturally there is some difference of opinion as to how, or what ought

to b--- ught. That every man should think most highly of his

particular portion of the work is natural and highly commendable. As

soon as he discovers work more important., it is his duty to himself and

to his environment to retire from his present work and allow some one

else to carry it forward.

It is not an infrequent occurrence in so large an institution

as we have here for the work in other departments to be incorrectly

understood. As an illustration, we have had theagricultural side

referred to is parasitic.. I believe we were likened to the cow-bird, or

'- .' ."* .,:

9

--ei-

cuckoo. Let us see how nearlyAthis simile may be. WE receive from

the Federal Government directly or indirectly for instructional

purposes nearly $20,000.00. This is for the College of Agriculture

and Mechanic Arts, including instruction in Military Science and

Tactics. The general studies, or what some scholarPschoose to call

"cultural studies", are permitted as a sort of accessory; but the

intents and purposes of the congressional acts were to strengthen and

maintain schools in Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, and Military

Science and Tactics. Suppose that our legislature at its next session

should decide that it would be better to maintain the college for

Agriculture and Mechanic Arts as a separate institution; where would

the University be?

In a paper before this Club more than a year ago, the speaker

presented some notes on Agricultural Education in Florida. At that time

attention was called to the fact that a Civil Engineer, by training;

anda Professor of Greek, by profession, had thrust upon teanek V

the onerous duties of teaching agriculture. Even with such inauspicious

--3--

beginning, some good resulted.

As an introduction to the paper of the evening let me read

t% =-4. t 11 pi, ragraphj of the paper read about a year agos

"To sum up the whole matter then, beginning at the

tops--The Adams Fund provides funds for the maintenance

of research, the highest type of scientific work. The

Hatch fund permits of a small amount of demonstrative work;

so-called cooperative experiments. The University provides

means for training young men in the rudiments of

scientific work, and here the matter ends. The high

schools unfit the pupils for agriculture; the county

schools fail to provide any training toward agriculture.

Consequently, we have a wide gap in our system of

education, extending from the parent who is actively bat-

tling with the world to support the family, to the young man

on the threshold of the tattles of life, ready to enter the

University, (A gap of nearly twenty years).

"It is our duty as educators to see that this vacancy,

this vacuum, be filled; mi. we -bk unT T wo stand

Foam-A -Ahs ttiC

IN CONCLUSION

I wish to state that our University is approaching nearer to fulfilling

its misFion in the State of Florida than ever heretofore. I believe

that every man is aiming by honest work to make his department the

strongest in the institution; and that there exists no such unworthy

feeling as jealousy toward any department. The country and the city

high schools are the source of our strength. By means of the

farmers' institutes and the lecture bureau we are able to reach

hundreds of our patrons not heretofore served.

Speaking the Farmers' Institutes, I wish to say that

the attendance has been greater than was my most sanguine expectations

of last July, The average attendance up to the first of February was

seventy-five and a fraction. As an illustration of the way in which

our work is appreciated I may cite my experience at Candler on the

12 inst. It became necessary for me to visit some peach orchards

affected with a peculiar disease. At 5 o'clock it was announced that

a lecture would be given on peach diseases, and at 8 o'clock sixty
/ -

people were in attendance.

I believe that it is within our power, and that it is our

duty to .keep the educational system of the State in its present unit

form.

The following statements summarize my reasons for believing

that agriculture should be taught in our present school system; and

that we should not attempt to have it taught in a separate system;

(and by agriculture, I mean agriculture, not nature study, not elementary

botany, not elementary chemistry, but plain, simple agriculture)

(1) Separate systems may have the initial advantage, but

can never be as good finally.

(2) Separate systems tend toward,segregation; our peace

and prosperity depend on homogeneity.

(Z) "To educate children of different classes separately is

to prevent that natural flow of individuals from one profession

Into another which is in every way desirable both from the public

and the private standpoint."

(4) "Secondary schools devoted solely to agriculture would

of necessity cover so much territory as to require the students

to board and move away from home".

(5) //Agriculture not only needs contact with other interests,

but they need contact with agriculture."

*f

(6) To establish a separate system would necessarily
MAIu-dw- AIP;M"
injure the present system, and thereby reduce aB effective-
ness.
(7) It is not necessary to establish a separate system in
order that agriculture shall be taught well.
(8) The demand that agriculture be taught in our
public schools is but a manifestation of the general
educational advancement.

lt-. iI -(? C 2 /

,' : *-" "--" .

S. .. IN COTTCLTUFIO

T wish to F:tute that our Univerrlit; is a. reaching nearer to fulfilling